Bottom Up World Creation, Part 2

The Size of Villages
This generates the size of the political division of the village's lands which includes the fields, woodlands, and other less-than-arable-lands that the village may claim for itself. While this was initially used to develop manorial villages, it will function for most types of agrarian settlements. Larger settlements may be generated, but they would likely be quite rare.

Table 1.a: The Size of the Village

1d000	Size of Village
001 - 071	Roll on Table 1.b Small Villages
072 - 214	1,200 + 1d00 acres
215 - 357	1,300 + 1d00 acres
358 - 500	1,400 + 1d00 acres
501 - 643	1,500 + 1d00 acres
644 - 786	1,600 + 1d00 acres
787 - 929	1,700 + 1d00 acres
930 - 000	Roll on Table 1.c Large Villages

Table 1.b: Small Villages

1d000	Size of Village
001 – 015	116 + 4d20 acres
016 – 045	200 + 1d00 acres
046 – 090	300 + 1d00 acres
091 – 150	400 + 1d00 acres
151 – 225	500 + 1d00 acres
226 – 315	600 + 1d00 acres
316 – 421	700 + 1d00 acres
422 – 542	800 + 1d00 acres
543 – 678	900 + 1d00 acres
679 – 829	1,000 + 1d00 acres
830 – 000	1,100 + 1d00 acres

Table 1.c: Large Villages

1d000	Size of Village
001 – 145	1,798 + 2d00 acres
146 – 235	1,998 + 2d00 acres
236 – 320	2,198 + 2d00 acres
321 – 400	2,398 + 2d00 acres
401 – 475	2,598 + 2d00 acres
476 – 545	2,798 + 2d00 acres
546 – 610	2,998 + 2d00 acres
611 – 670	3,198 + 2d00 acres
671 – 725	3,398 + 2d00 acres
726 – 775	3,598 + 2d00 acres
776 – 820	3,798 + 2d00 acres
821 – 860	3,998 + 2d00 acres
861 – 895	4,198 + 2d00 acres
896 – 925	4,398 + 2d00 acres
926 – 950	4,598 + 2d00 acres
951 – 970	4,798 + 2d00 acres
971 – 985	4,998 + 2d00 acres
986 – 995	5,198 + 2d00 acres
996 – 000	5,398 + 2d00 acres

The Size of Steadings
Steadings tend to be small. While larger Steadings could exist, such places tend to be the starts of villages. Anything smaller than this though and you're more into hunter/gatherer territory than any sort of true settlement. Unlike the village generation method, these acres are entirely those that are built upon, planted, or used as pasture.

Table 2. The Size of Steadings

1d00	Size of Steading
01-40	1d6 x5 acres
41-70	2d6 x5 acres
71-90	3d6 x5 acres
91-00	4d6 x5 acres

Hides and Households
Now that you've determined the Physical size of your settlement, you'll want to know how many households and how many hides of land are present. To do this, the first thing you must do is figure out how much land is actually used and how much is allowed to remain "wild". This is already done for steadings, but villages require an additional process.

The first thing you'll need to determine is what the basic terrain and climate band types are. You should know based on your map, but there are also random generators presented in the 1st edition DMG, World Builder's Guidebook, as well as the spiffy random map generator Hexographer. To determine how much of the land is used you first find the least favorable % based on the terrain:

Grassland, Coastal: 75%
Light Forest: 65%
Medium Forest, Hills: 55%
Heavy Forest: 45%
Swamp, Desert: 35%
Mountain: 25%
High Mountain: 15%

You then modify percentage as follows:

Super-Arctic: -30%
Arctic: -20%
Subarctic: -10%
Temperate: +0%
Subtropical: +10%
Tropical: -10%
Super-Tropical: -20%

You then multiply the result by the Land Quality and Population Density Index. If you haven't decided on how dense the local population should be or how good the soil is, then the following table is presented. Please note, the descriptors in the Population Density Index Column do not mean the same thing as normal. an Urban village is one that is in a relatively well settled area within a close proximity to a town or city. A rural density is one where the area is less developed, with no nearby towns or cities, and wilderness means it tends to be on the border somewhat.

Table 3: Land Quality and Population Density

2d6	Land Quality Index	Population Density Index(Factor)
2	0.75 Barren	0.5 Wilderness (45)
3	0.80 Poor	0.6 Wilderness (44)
4	0.85 Poor	0.7 Wilderness (43)
5	0.90 Poor	0.8 Rural (42)
6	0.95 Average	0.9 Rural (41)
7	1.00 Average	1.0 Rural (40)
8	1.05 Average	1.1 Rural (39)
9	1.10 Good	1.2 Rural (38)
10	1.15 Good	1.3 Urban (37)
11	1.20 Good	1.4 Urban (36)
12	1.25 Fertile	1.5 Urban (35)

The resulting % should be lowered or raised to be within the 5% to 85% range. Roll a 1d10 for additional variation, and the result is how many acres are used for agriculture or dwellings by the local populace.

Using the numbers generated above, you may then determine number of households. Use the following formula For BOTH Steadings and Villages:
(Total Used Acres / Population Factor) x Land Quality Index = Total number of households(round down)

To determine the number of Hides, remove total used acres, and replace with the total acres rolled for the village.

More parts to come!

Bottom up world creation, part 1

The next few posts on this blog will be about creating a game world from the smallest units, namely villages and steadings. It is probably best to start with a few definitions so we’re all on the same page. This will likely only be of interest to people who are modeling their cultures on NW Europe during the a rather broad section of the middle ages(900 AD to 1300 AD)

Types of Divisions

• Hide: A hide is a section of land capable of supporting one household. The size of a hide varies, because the hide is not a measurement of area, but a measurement of assessment, and will be discussed further in the articles on economics and taxation.
• Household: A household is a family, usually 2 adults and any associated dependents. Dependents include ancestors of the 2 adults, siblings, the families of siblings, and children. The key here is that everyone is living in the same space, using the same utilities, and working together for the survival of the household as a group.
• Acre: This corresponds to the modern unit of measurement.
• Bushel/stack: The basic measurements of agrarian production.
  

Types of Settlements

• Steading: A steading is usually only a single household, but sometimes it’s actually a handful of households clustered together. A steading is usually not self sufficient in terms of food production and requires the people living there to either trade, raid, or hunt/fish in areas beyond the steading.
• Village: A village is like some steadings in that it’s a number of households clustered together. The major difference between steadings and villages is that the village has more households, resulting in greater self sufficiency. Villages are the basic unit of feudal societies and are almost always agrarian in nature.
• Town: A town in D&D is generally defined as any settlement with between 1,000 and 10,000 people. A town in a historical sense(and that which will be used here) is actually defined by economic character instead. A town is thus a settlement in which the majority of the population will derive their living from industry, trade, or service as opposed to agrarian pursuits. We will be using the historical definition, with a population between 1,000 and 8,000
  
• City: In traditional D&D, a city is usually defined as having a population of more than 10,000 people. The historical definition is mostly synonymous with a town, except that a city usually had a royal charter and a Cathedral. For the purposes of these articles, we’ll instead use the Medieval Demographics Made easy definition of more than 8,000 people.

Types of Climate

• Super-Arctic: This climate is not found in a traditional earth-like world. It represents places generally too cold to support human life for extended periods of time without the aid of magic.
• Arctic: This climate is generally found at extreme northern or southern latitudes, or on glaciers in most earthlike worlds. It is possible to survive in these areas, but generally organized crop based agriculture is impossible without magical aid as the ground is usually to cold to support most known types of crops. Generally this band only has 2 seasons; winter and summer.
• Subarctic: This is the first climate band warm enough to support normal organized crop based agriculture. Winters tend to be long and summers short. Spring and Autumn tend to be shorter still.
• Temperate: This is the climate band most players are familiar with. It has 4, relatively equal length seasons
• Subtropical: This band is ideal for the growing of crops. It will tend to have either long growing seasons and mild winters, or possibly even 2 growing seasons in a single year.
• Tropical: Tropical climate bands tend to have a dry season and a wet season, neither of which are particularly great for the growing of crops, but it’s still possible.
• Super-Tropical: Like Super-Arctic, Super-Tropical generally doesn’t exist in Earth-like worlds and humans(as they appear on earth) generally can’t survive in them long term without some form of magical help or adaptations. Much of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting is probably the best example of a Super-Tropical climate.

Types of Terrain

• Grassland: Grassland tends to be any relatively flat(or very gently rolling hills) in which shrubs and grasses grow. This also refers to areas in which crop or pasture based agriculture is maintained. Also known as perpetual meadow and agricultural meadow.
  
• Light Forest: This consists of forest which have been previously cleared, and are starting to regrow. Trees tend to grow in bunches amid thickets, and are easily cleared. Also known as transitional meadow.
  
• Medium Forest: This type of forest is characterized by heavy undergrowth. Like Light forest, it's a result of deforestation(natural or intentional). Also known as Secondary Growth Forest.
  
• Heavy Forest: Heavy Forest is land in which meadows are either small or incredibly infrequent. Heavy forest consists mostly of Old Growth Forest.
  
• Hills: In the context of this series of articles, hills are considered to be steeper than the rolling hills, prairies, and traditional farmland of grassland terrain.
  
• Coastal areas consist of any area in which a settlement sits on the shores of a body of water that gives the settlement access to trade and/or supports a large enough population of water-dwelling life to support the settlement.
• Mountain: This type of terrain is steeper and generally more rocky than that found in Hill terrain. It represents smaller mountains and areas of larger mountains below the tree line. large scale crop farming is generally(but not always) impossible in these areas without the use of terraces.
  
• High Mountain: This terrain represents the parts of mountains above the tree line. large scale crop farming is almost always impossible without the aid of terraces.
  
• Desert: This type of terrain is characterized by a lack of precipitation. Large settlements are nearly impossible unless found near sizable sources of water.
  
• Wetland: This type of terrain consists of Bogs, Fens, Marshes, Swamps, etc. The ground tends to be submerged in water requiring the people living there to either perform major acts of engineering or turn to other forms of crops/subsistence.
  

Types of Soil Quality

• Barren: This consists of area with no soil at all(areas of stone), or soil that can't support any but the very hardiest of plant life. This makes farming almost impossible. This includes areas that have been salted or have been completely leeched of nutrients.
  
• Poor: Poor soil can be rocky, mostly clay, or the result of slash and burn farming techniques, or those areas that have been farmed for long periods and the use of crop rotation and knowledge of fertilizers.
  
• Average: Average soil is exactly that, average. The farming techniques used here generally include at least 2 field crop rotation or perhaps basic composting usage.
  
• Good: Good soil is generally the result of skilled farming techniques(or technology) over many generations on average land or the result of average or poor techniques in areas that were once fertile.
  
• Fertile: This is very rich land, the result of yearly flooding(like on the nile), volcanic soil, or some means of magical boosting of soil quality.
  

Next time: Size of steadings and villages.

Arcane Research

Given that the economies and cultures vary too widely between campaign settings, I'm leaving specific costs out this post. Ultimately it should be roughly the same as the costs for hiring a sage or undertaking spell research.

Materials needed by the character:

• Library: Anyone wishing to undertake arcane research is going to need at least a handful of writings on the subject(or a similar subject if he is pioneering a new field of study)
  
• Laboratory: Sometimes research requires experimentation. A fully stocked lab may be required in such cases(up to the DM)

Types of Research

• Insight: This kind of research gives the character experience, but little else(unless the DM wishes to throw in some adventure hooks)
• Recipe: This kind of research has the ability to yield fragments of a recipe required to make magic items.
• Spell Research: This is the standard spell research present in the DMG.

Mechanics of research

Once the player decides WHAT he's researching, the DM may then determine the 2 biggest parts of the research itself: The Cost, and the Time.
Research should not be a cheap undertaking, especially where magic is concerned. There's a reason why so many mages in fantasy literature are often found either serving wealthy and powerful patrons, or have wealth and power themselves!
The second consideration is time. The more time spent researching, the better the results should be.
At the end of each period of research in which you're using, there should be a success check. You may use the Sage tables if you like(from the DMG in the NPC chapter), or make it a function of the Learn Spell sub-ability with modifiers applied to Specificity of information sought and time spent researching/experimenting.
The DM should be the one to make the success checks.


Effects of Research

Insight: By Day: 1 minor clue/1 XP x Character level ; by Week: 1 major clue, or 1d4 minor clues/10 XP x Character level

Recipe: The character gains knowledge of 1 ingredient or process required to create the item desired. Note: the player should not automatically know how many ingredients there are in the item's recipe unless he researches that specific information. Additionally, the DM should be free to withhold certain information if it isn't asked. For example: A wizard learns that the Acid resistance potion he wants to make requires Dragon's blood. What the DM isn't telling him is that the blood must specifically be from a Black Dragon, until the character continues his research. In this way, a character is never certain that he has the entire recipe until he tries it out.

Spell: As standard rules.

New Class: Trader

The Trader class has been presented at least twice in D&D, the first being the Dark Sun version from the supplement Dune Trader, and the second being the Guilder class from the Birthright expansion Havens of the Great Bay. This class isn't just any old merchant on the street hawking his wares at all who pass, but a class for the merchants who brave the goblin infested mountain passes and dare to cross the high seas and great deserts of the world in pursuit of profit. It's the class for the diplomatic trader who goes into the territories of others and negotiates trading deals with races normally inimical to the trader's society.

Rogue Sub-class: Trader
Ability Requirements: Intelligence 10, Wisdom 8, Charisma 12
Prime Requisites: Intelligence, Charisma
Races: Human(U), Half Elf(12), Dwarf(12)
Alignments: Any
Proficiency Groups: All

• Weapons Allowed: Any
• Armors/Shields Allowed: Any
  
• Thieving Abilities: The trader starts off with the following thieving abilities modified by race, armor(for heavier armors see Complete Thieves' handbook), and dexterity. He gains no points to spend to improve these abilities at first level. At second level, and every level thereafter, he gains 20 points to divide among the abilities, with no more than 10 points going into any 1 ability. Additionally, no skill may be raised over 80%. Pick Pockets: 15%; Open Locks: 10%; Find/Remove Traps: 5%; Move Silently: 10%; Hide in Shadows: 5%; Detect Noise: 15%; Climb Walls: 60%; Read Languages: 20%
  
• Bonus Modern Language proficiency slot at every odd level.
• Influence Reactions: Like a ranger or bard, a trader may influence the reactions of NPCs. In order to use this ability, the trader and the target NPC must share a common language. By speaking to the individual NPC for a round, the trader forces the NPC to make a saving throw vs. Death with a -1 penalty for every 3 levels of the trader. A failed save indicates that the trader may change the reaction by 1 category step.
  
• The Trader may set up his own trading company(stronghold). The Trader gains 1d3 individuals, determined by the DM at each level, starting at 10th level. These individuals are those who seeks to achieve their fortunes by working for the Trader. They may be of any race or class. The Trader may bring no more than 1 of these individuals for every 2 levels he possesses with him when adventuring.
  

You know what this game needs? More rats!

Ratfolk
Climate/Terrain: Any Land
Frequency: Uncommon
Organization: Swarm
Activity Cycle: Nocturnal
Diet: Omnivore
Intelligence: Average: 9-10
Treasure: Varies
Alignment: Varies
No. Appearing: 1+(generally 3-12)
AC: 7
Mv: 12
HD: 1 or 2
Thac0: 20 or 18
#AT: 1
Dmg: By weapon
Special Attacks: Thieving skills or berserker rage.
Special Defenses: None
Size: M(6 feet tall)
Magic Resistance: 0%
Morale: Unsteady(5)
XP: 35

Ratfolk look like the man-rat hybrid forms of the were-rats. This has often caused ratfolk to be persecuted. Ratfolk speak their own language, and a large number also speak common, goblin, jermlaine, and undercommon.
Combat: Ratfolk come in two varieties; Feral and Civilized. Civilized Ratfolk prefer to use rogue weapons and tactics. Most adult civilized ratfolk have the thieving skills of a 3rd level thief. Feral Ratfolk, being about a head larger than their "civilized" kin, tend to use brute force, and thus prefer 2 handed swords, spears, great axes, and the like. Once per day they can enter a berserker rage, gaining a +1 bonus to attack, a +2 bonus to damage, and they regenerate 1 damage per round as long as they're above 0 hp. They'll continue fighting in this state until all non-ratfolk in the immediate vicinity are incapacitated. Ratfolk are generally a cowardly lot, and they don't attack unless they feel they have a clear advantage in a fight.
Habitat/Society: Ratfolk are social beings and gather into clans. The Feral ratfolk tend to be seafarers, building settlements on hidden or conquered islands, and sending forth their longships to raid others. Civilized Ratfolk prefer to dwell underground in the sewers and catacombs of major cities, but many end up traveling in brightly colored wagons moving from location to location, surviving as entertainers and thieves.
Ecology: Ratfolk are omnivores, and some of the civilized kind make passable, if lazy, farmers. The civilized kind generally avoid eating sentient creatures(unless fresh corpses are available) but feral ratfolk often raid human settlements solely so they can eat the people.

My 2 coppers

This is as much addressed to the supporters of WotC as it is to supporters of Blizzard's current practices regarding the MMORPG World of Warcraft. I'm not arrogant enough to believe any of them actually read this blog, so this is more my way of getting things that have been allowed to build up for far too long, off my chest.
First off, I don't hate you. I'd very much rather not be your "enemy" and would very much like to see your business succeed so you can continue to create things I never would even think of. I'm not however going to support you when you dismantle everything I actually DO like about your products, in order for you to cater to casuals(especially when, in doing so, you choose to demean or demonize anyone who prefers the older way of doing things). I realize that you need more customers in order to make more money, and I realize that the people you're wanting to attract probably have more money than I do. I also realize that you are a business and thus the bottom line is all that matters. But you also need to realize that you ARE dealing with a niche market, and a lot of people in said niche market don't WANT it to grow. Especially not in the ways you're trying to force it. Seeking to placate the casuals doesn't have to mean that you need to alienate the grognards.
First off, to Blizzard: I don't actually know what's involved in setting up or maintaining one of your servers, but it would go a long way towards retaining your long term customer base(and probably attract even more new blood) if you'd set up a few "legacy" servers where anyone who wants to do so, can play Vanilla, TBC, or (with the upcoming xpac) WotLK without feeling like they're being FORCED to buy the latest Expansion. After all, getting $15 a month is better than getting $0 a month because you've strong-armed people into quitting, since they don't want to shell out the $50 for the newest xpac that they strongly believe(right or wrong) that they're not going to enjoy it anyway. You'll even likely get an additional income rush as people pay to have their characters "downgraded" and transferred to one of these new legacy servers. Heck, I wouldn't even mind paying a bit extra for the downgrade if it meant never having to see another DK! I'm even more likely to to continue to play, and more likely to buy the upcoming xpac if you were going to institute something like this. At the moment though, it doesn't seem that likely that I'll continue to shell out the cash each month since I find that WotLK, and the policies you've put into practice with this expansion(as well as the people who seem to enjoy them) have made the game no longer something I can enjoy.
For WotC/Hasbro: I guess the fix for the Edition Wars is nowhere near as easy to solve. I will say that you angered a lot of people with 4th edition. I know many people who refuse to even call it D&D because it is such a radical departure from the lore built up over the last 30+ years. I also think the game would have gotten much better reviews and reached a wider audience if it wasn't for the fact that you put it under the D&D banner. I think, perhaps, there would have been a lot less gnashing of teeth and a lot less bad blood between old school and new school types if you'd just decided to retire the D&D brand name. I keep hearing that the design team wanted to explore entirely new avenues of thought, but by taking the name D&D there's a certain amount of expected baggage that goes along with it. For many people, what you did is tantamount to the same level of dickishness I expect out of directors like Uwe Boll when they get the rights to make movies about video game or comic book franchises, and then go off to make movies that wouldn't be bad if they hadn't built up the expectations by using the franchise names. I'd also rather like to think of the people in charge of design at WotC as being nothing like Uwe Boll.
People take this sort of stuff seriously, and as old as D&D is, for many players the lore and feel of the game is held in the same regard as traditions. It also seems to me at least, rather foolish to be alienating what would otherwise be a very vocal group of people who actually DO want to support you in your efforts.
I would also like to thank everyone who IS involved with the games, both players and companies, as I realize that both sides have legitimate concerns and arguments. I believe both the grognards and the companies really are important to the future of the games/hobbies we're involved in. I just think that perhaps we could do a little better at trying to come up with solutions that benefit both sides rather than further isolating ourselves from one another.

The Hypandi

Hypandi
Climate/Terrain: Any Desert/Barren
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Solitary or band
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Omnivore
Intelligence: Low to Average(5-11)
Treasure: (C)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
No. Appearing: 1-6
AC: 5
Mv: 15
HD: 5+1
Thac0: 15
#AT: 1
Dmg:By weapon
Special Attacks: Swarm, Disease, Breath Weapon
Special Defenses: Immunity to Disease, Resistant to Poison
Size: L(9' tall)
Magic Resistance: 0%
Morale: 14
XP: 650

A hypandi appears to be a large, emaciated, diseased, horse-like humanoid, similar to a Minotaur, but with equine traits rather than bovine. The creatures reek of rotting vegetation and always seem to have a cloud of flies buzzing around them.
The Hypandi have no language of their own, and usually speak the dominant language in the regions near where they dwell.
Combat: A Hypandi usually prefers to use polearms in combat, though the exact polearm depends on the personal preference of the Hypandi itself, though Halberds, Bardiches, and Glaives are the most common. Regardless, Hypandi function as if they have a Strength of 18/50. The Hypandi generally don't bother with tactics, preferring to rely on brute strength and abilities to down their foes.
Due to the smell and constant buzzing of the Hypandi's swarm, a party has a +3 bonus to avoid being surprised by a Hypandi. Because of their lack of hygene, a person damaged by the weapons or abilities of a Hypandi have a cumulative 2% chance per hp of damage they suffer from the Hypandi to contract a disease. Hypandi themselves are immune to all natural diseases. A Hypandi also has a +3 bonus on all saves versus toxins.
3/day(and never more than once per hour) a Hypandi may expel the contents of its stomach upon it's foes, dealing 2d6 damage(Save vs. Breath Weapon for 1/2 Dmg). The "breath weapon" is 15' wide at it's widest point, but only goes out to about 10'. The Breath weapon also fouls the air supply in the area(Save vs. Poison or suffer the effects of a Ray of Enfeeblement for 4d6 rounds after leaving the "cloud" of fouled air) which lasts for 2-8 turns. Anyone within the cloud, whether they are effected by it or not, are still susceptible to the disease effect(2% cumulative per round).
The last major combat ability relates to the gnats and flies which seem to always be present around the Hypandi. Using a non-magical ability known only to the Hypandi, the Hypandi may 1/day direct the swarm as if using an Insect Swarm spell as if he was a 7th level caster. At the end of the non-spell's duration, the Swarm immediately returns to the Hypandi.
Habitat/Society: It's not entirely certain how the Hypandi came into being, but most people generally believe that Hypandi's are cursed, very much like Minotaurs. Nobody has ever seen a female Hypandi, but sometimes, An adult Male Hypandi will be found caring for young Hypandi. The younger Hypandi refer to the male caretaker as their father.
The Hypandi have no known settlements, but instead seem to travel as nomads through deserts and barrens. They make war on all other races, especially Centaurs, Minotaurs, and Gnolls. These races are not eaten when slain, though their skulls are taken as trophies(if not too damaged). Very rarely, a poweful warlord or wizard will conquer small groups of Hypandi for use as shock troops, but given their tendency to taint any area they stay in for very long(and their ability to spread disease), this is far from a common practice.
Ecology: Hypandi are hunter-gatherers, scouring lands where there is very little food or water. A Hypandi can go for as long as 2 weeks without water, and about as long without any food. A Hypandi can only eat fresh meat, but may eat even the most rotten vegetable matter it can find. As a presumed divinely cursed creature, a Hypandi does not fit into any actual natural ecology and most druids will therefore not suffer one to live in his guarded lands. Hypandi flesh is not consumed by any known predator, not even starving carrion birds.